$100,000,000 PLANNING FUND

The Natural Resilience Foundation

1.Identify Suitable Site Locations. With special attention to “elevation, elevation, elevation” as the new real estate mantra and other select criteria, select 10 sites in the U.S. Plan for a range of small-, mid- and large-sized communities with initial populations ranging from 50,000 – 500,000 growing to 250,000 – 5,000,000. One site will be for a megalopolis to support an eventual population of 25 million people.

2. Design a Sustainable and Resilient Community. Design must address how best to spatially and physically organize, orient and layout these communities into smaller, more livable scales. Cohesiveness, collaboration, creativity, entrepreneurship and sense of place are the governing principles we believe will promote social and economic sustainability; and these may be better achieved within smaller self-contained communities. These smaller scales of population should allow for self-sustained infrastructure like district energy, mass transit, net zero carbon use, local food sourcing, telecommunications and Internet.

3. Develop Master Plans. Plan types will call for expansion of existing communities or cities, establishment of new ones, or retrofitting of existing ones.

4.Develop Appropriate Political and Governance Structures. Explore and re-think how the benefits of some bureaucracy and systematization can be balanced with promoting creativity, entrepreneurship and small business. Utilize digital technology platforms to better manage resources in a transparent and fair way as well as promote a shared economy. Shift decision-making towards constructing healthy, sustainable and resilient ecosystems.

5.Rethink our Financial Structures. The Great Recession of 2008 demonstrated that our financial systems suffer from considerable speculation, gaming, shifting risk, risk-taking and unaccountability. Establish triple bottom line accounting to reflect the true costs of their activities on society and the environment.

6. Secure Build-out Capital and Financing. Utilize a portion of the Planning Fund to raise capital for infrastructure build-out. Seek a mix of public money and private capital. Structure appropriate public, private and community partnerships (PuPCos) for the sharing and flow of financial, intellectual property, development and community resources.